MP3 Players for the Gym Geek

Requirements

In the same email, I had asked about the iRiver Clix, their new player. Turns out that one didn't allow for music transfer except on Windows, so I started wondering: what do you really need from a music player?

Here are my requirements. They are modeled after a guy that goes to the gym a lot, makes a living programming a computer, and still rips his CD collection instead of downloading DRM music. And yes, that's not because DRM is evil, but because it's implemented poorly.